IchiHime: Snapshots
by Shihouin
Summary: Series of ficlets exploring the relationship between Ichigo and Orihime. Mostly light-hearted fluff.
1. of ruined dates

**A/N:** My third fic in as many weeks…obsessed? Who, me? :gasps: You don't say…

This will be a collection of IchiHime ficlets, chronicling their relationship and updated sporadically. Written coz the plot-bunnies are hopping around like crazy in my head :D

Oh, and be warned of fluff, fluff and more fluff. Apparently, that's the only genre I can write -_-;

**  
1. _Of Ruined Dates_**

Orihime should have known it would be like this.

She sighed as she crumpled up the two tickets in her hand and threw them in the dustbin. The clock in her living room showed 7:50 PM. The movie would already be half over by now.

Ichigo was late.

Orihime knew it wasn't his fault. Going by the distant yet powerful feel of his reiatsu and the cries of Hollows ringing through the air, Orihime knew exactly why he was late.

Still, she couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed.

This was the fourth time now that Ichigo had become late for their date. And they had been barely going out for a month. It was a worrying trend.

'Not his fault…he's just doing his job…' she reminded herself. 'You should feel proud.' Smiling, she mentally steeled herself…she would not let this sort of thing ruin their date. She'd make sure to make the best of the time they spent together.

Ichigo's reiatsu was still pulsing angrily, so she guessed it would take some more time before he finally arrived. Picking up her handbag, she purposefully made her way towards the door.

…

When Ichigo finally arrived at her doorstep, looking only slightly tired from the fighting, he gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry Inoue…I, uh, spoiled our date…again…" he guiltily scratched the back of his head.

Orihime giggled at his expression and shook her head. "Don't be sorry, Kurosaki-kun, it's not your fault." She held his arm and pulled him inside.

"I ordered us some pizza," she informed him cheerfully as she shut the door.

"Oh," he looked surprised. "Great…" He smiled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Then I went out and rented a movie." She held up the little packet in her hand and waved it in front of his face excitedly.

Ichigo took it from her curiously. He raised an eyebrow on catching the title. "Beauty and the Beast?" his voice held a tinge of incredulity.

Her face fell. "You don't like it?"

He straightened his expression at once. "Eh…no, it's fine…" he said, grin back on his face.

Orihime wasn't convinced but she didn't push the matter further. All that really mattered was that she could spend some time with Ichigo, something she got very little of these days.

The doorbell rang. Orihime clapped her hands. "Pizza's here! I'll get it," she announced. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Yeah…and, um…I'll set up the DVD player so we can watch this…" he indicated to the movie in his hand.

"You really want to watch it, Kurosaki-kun?" she asked skeptically, inclining her head slightly. "We can skip it if you don't want to…"

"No…I mean, I want to…watch it, that is…," he stammered. "You want to watch it too, don't you?" Brown eyes gazed down at her seriously.

Orihime smiled and shook her head. Ichigo couldn't lie if his life depended on it. She chuckled as she made her way to the door.

As it turned out, whether Ichigo liked the movie or not didn't make a difference anyway. Because even though it kept playing in the background, they ended up not watching it at all. They remained occupied with far more…interesting things…

…

**A/N: **As always, your reviews are love!


	2. what's in a name

**2. _What's in a name?_**

"Inoue?"

"Hai, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

Orihime looked up from her assignment to her boyfriend sitting across the small table. "What do you mean?"

"We've been going out for three months now…but you still don't call me by my given name." He was scowling.

Orihime blinked, surprised by his sudden outburst. "Well, I…don't…I mean, you still call me Inoue…"

"That's…" Ichigo began, but closed his mouth immediately. He seemed genuinely surprised by her statement, as though he had never given it a thought before.

"I guess I call you Kurosaki-kun because I'm so used to it…" Orihime said, chewing the tip of her pen in thought. "But if you want I'll call you Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded firmly, his expression dead serious. "Yeah, I'd like that. It's only right, you being my girlfriend and all."

Orihime wondered if this sudden wish of Ichigo's had anything to do with Keigo's remarks the other day about how Ichigo was not on first-name basis with his own girlfriend. Which had promptly resulted in the other boys in class questioning the genuineness of their relationship.

Keigo had gone home that day with a black eye and a bloodied nose.

"…and it's okay if I call you Orihime, right?"

Orihime gasped, her dark eyes widening as they met questioning brown ones. Hearing him say her name for the first time…she was shocked, to say the least… Her face felt warm and her heartbeat fastened.

"Orihime? I can call you that, right?"

She swallowed, cursing herself for having such a strong reaction to hearing her name from his lips. Going against the warning in her head, she smiled and nodded.


End file.
